Redskins center Casey Rabach was trying to seriously discuss the coming season when Mark Brunell stepped on a stool behind the TV cameras and lifted his shirt.
Quarterbacks Gone Wild. Not quite the same effect as a college co-ed, but enough to disrupt Rabach.
Teammates chided deep snapper Ethan Albright over his last-place ranking among players in the new Madden video game. Tight end Mike Sellers threw a towel onto running back Ladell Betts’ head during an interview. Offensive tackle Jon Jansen went 30 minutes discussing steroid use among NFL players.
The 0-4 preseason? It’s long forgotten. Barely a peep around Redskin Park on Thursday about the starting offense not scoring or the defense permitting too many long plays. Conversations were steered to Monday’s season opener against Minnesota. Would the Vikings run more of a Philadelphia offense where Minnesota coach Brad Childress spent the last seven seasons?
“It’s Redskins football, baby, Redskins football,” Sellers said. “Let’s just go play.”
Fans may wonder if the Redskins are truly Super Bowl contenders, but the meaningless exhibitions don’t linger in players’ minds. No one talked about Dallas on Sept. 17, either. It’s all about the next opponentin the NFL. Anything else is irrelevant.
“Mr. Irrelevant” wasn’t happy over a dozen stories lying in his locker over his new status as Madden’s least favorite player, though. The “Red Snapper” doesn’t like the new nickname, either. Seems Madden game programmers don’t rate snappers so they made Albright a tackle who doesn’t play the position — hence the poor ranking. The nicest Redskin the last five seasons was tired enough of the repeated poking to sport a rare frown. That’s OK — memories are short in the NFL.
Jansen may hope for similar amnesia after breaking the usual code of silence among players concerning drug use. Jansen claims 10 percent to 15 percent of NFL players take human growth hormone that isn’t detected by NFL drug tests. Of course, none of the Redskins have used it, he said.
Jansen sees current players as “stewards of the game” and doesn’t like cheaters who jeopardize their own health. He was approached by an unnamed person who offered something to help him recover from a torn Achilles tendon in 2004.
“Whenever there’s something out there that people believe will help them, we’d be naive and foolish to think if you can’t test for it guys aren’t going to try it,” Jansen said. “Right now there’s not a test for human growth hormone. When they develop that I hope the NFL will institute it in their NFL drug policy.”
There is always pressure on players to avoid temptation. A new memo on the lockerroom bulletin board from coach Joe Gibbs warned — “Use common sense. Don’t embarrass yourself or the Washington Redskins.”
Hard to say whether Gibbs meant on or off the field. Certainly, the Redskins know fans still expect a long playoff run regardless of recent embarrassments.
“Expectations are always very high and this season is no different,” Brunell said. “I think people are expecting a lot out of our team and they should.”
Especially when forgetting a forgettable preseason.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
